1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to recreational vehicles and to remote control devices, and particularly to a remote control device for raising and lowering the support legs or jacks of a recreational vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Campers and other recreational vehicle trailers may be attached to a towing vehicle by a ball and socket trailer hitch, a gooseneck coupler, or more recently, by a fifth wheel coupling similar to that used by tractors and semitrailers. Particularly with a fifth wheel coupler, it becomes necessary to raise the front end of the tailer to a height sufficient to permit the towing vehicle to back under the kingpin in order to couple the fifth wheel. The front end of the trailer is usually raised by means of jacks which may be powered electrically, pneumatically, or hydraulically. Typically operation of the jack is controlled by an electrical switch mounted in the trailer. If the trailer is not raised to the proper height initially, the user may have to continually leave the towing vehicle to go back and forth to the trailer to raise and lower the height of the jacks to obtain the proper height for connecting the coupler.
Various devices have been proposed to make the process of raising or levelling a trailer less tedious. U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,829, issued Apr. 4, 1994 to Rivers, Jr., et al., describes a pneumatic system for raising and lowering the landing legs on a semitrailer. In one embodiment, the system includes a remote control unit which has a radio receiver which operates solenoids in a landing gear valve to control which air line supplies the pneumatic motor with air to control the direction of rotation of the motor in order to raise or lower the landing gear.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,493, issued Nov. 19, 1996 to Schwartz, et al., describes a hydraulic lifting device for a gooseneck tailer. The device uses a remote control unit which is hard-wired to an electric motor a hydraulic pump and a solenoid in a hydraulic valve to control the direction of fluid flow, and hence raising and lowering of the trailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,184, issued Sep. 5, 1989 to D. Mena, discloses a landing gear mechanism having telescoping legs with locking pins activated by solenoids to lock the legs in position. The legs are operated by an electric motor from a control unit which has relays which activate sensors on the legs which detect if the legs are in locking position. The patent mentions that the control may be activated by remote control, but doesn't teach how this may be accomplished.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,267, issued Apr. 2, 1991 to P. V. Busby, teaches a system for raising and lowering the landing gear legs on a semitrailer which uses an air motor supplied with compressed air from the tractor as the power unit for raising and lowering the legs. The control unit is not described.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,176,391 and 5,312,119, issued Jan. 5, 1993 and May 17, 1994, respectively, to Schneider, et al., describe a hydraulic leveling system for a recreational vehicle which employs three hydraulic jacks under control of a microprocessor controlled circuit. The system includes a pneumatic air bag system, and indicators to show when the parking brake is released or when the transmission is shifted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,379, issued Feb. 23, 1993 to Krause, et al., shows an automatic leveling system for a recreational vehicle which uses four hydraulic jacks and which has a control pad wired to a microprocessor for controlling the leveling system manually, if desired.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed, i.e., a recreational vehicle jack remote control which uses a remote control device which transmits radio waves to a receiver controlling the switch in a circuit which has an electric motor for raising or lowering the jacks for connecting a fifth wheel coupling device.